Meaning & use
without recourse
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Meanings
phrasefixed phraselegalfinance
Words written on a financial document such as a check, meaning the person signing it will not have to pay if the main party fails to.
Grammar: Used after a verb or as a stamp on a document: he endorsed the note without recourse.
Patterns
- sell something without recourse
- endorse something without recourse
The bank bought the debt without recourse to the seller.
She signed the back of the check without recourse, so she carried no liability.
The loans were sold without recourse, leaving the buyer to bear any loss.
phrasefixed phraseformal
With no possible way of getting help, redress or a second option when something goes wrong.
Grammar: Often followed by to: without recourse to the courts.
Patterns
- without recourse to something
Customers were left without recourse when the company closed.
The tenants had to accept the decision without recourse to an appeal.
Without recourse to legal advice, she signed the contract.
Common combinations
- sold without recourse
- The invoices were sold without recourse to a finance firm.
- endorse without recourse
- He agreed to endorse the check without recourse.
- left without recourse
- Victims of the scam were left without recourse.
- without recourse to the courts
- The dispute was settled without recourse to the courts.
- without legal recourse
- Workers were without legal recourse under the old rules.
Synonyms and how they differ
- with no liability
- This is a plain-English explanation of the financial sense, whereas without recourse is the fixed legal formula.
- helplessly
- Helplessly describes a feeling of powerlessness, while without recourse names the absence of a formal remedy.
- without redress
- Without redress focuses on the lack of compensation or correction, and does not carry the banking meaning.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: without recourse or resource? without recourse or discourse?
without recourse vs resource
A resource is something useful you can draw on, such as money or time; recourse is the act of turning to something for help.
without recourse vs discourse
Discourse is serious discussion or writing; it shares only the ending with recourse.
Practice
The bank bought the loans ____, so it could not claim money back from the seller if borrowers defaulted.
Choose one answer.
Without recourse means the buyer has no right to claim back from the seller. With recourse is the opposite, and by or in recourse are not standard phrases.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “without recourse”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.